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RECENT NEWS
House of Commons
Since the beginning of 2021, the BNTVA has met with three Members of Parliament – Lee Rowley (Conservative), Fay Jones (Conservative) and Johnny Mercer (Conservative) - concerning the medal application and ways forward for the Charity regarding recognition and gaps in welfare provision for our nuclear test veterans and their families.
The British nuclear test veterans have been mentioned on multiple occasions within the House of Commons, recently by Catherine McKinnell MP (Labour, Newcastle North), Emma Lewell-Buck MP (Labour, South Shields), during the Armed Forces Bill debate, and Fay Jones MP (Brecon & Radnor) in her speech during the Armed Forces Bill debate on 8 February. Fay informed Ceri that she would invite Ben Wallace and Johnny Mercer to the BNTVA Conference Reunion 2021 event, and would like to attend herself. She said,
“This afternoon, I spoke to the British Nuclear Test Veterans Association, which is based in my constituency. I know the Minister is working with it as it seeks to close the gap, both in our history and in our recognition of those veterans’ service, but I encourage him to consider attending the celebration event it is holding later this year ahead of the 70th anniversary of peration Hurricane. There are only 2,500 nuclear veterans still with us, and despite it being a little-known part of our history, their immense service should be recognised.”
Further to our meeting with Johnny Mercer MP in January, we received the following email from the Office of Veterans’ Affairs Secretariat...
Dear Ceri,
Thank you for your emails of 27 January and 11 February regarding the BNTVA and the health of Veterans. I hope you don't mind us taking your emails together.
We appreciate your time in meeting with the Minister and Rachel. We understand that this was a constructive meeting and hope that you feel similarly. The Office for Veterans’ Affairs was established as part of the Government’s commitment to making the UK the best place in the world to be a veteran. Achieving this will require more than unilateral Government action and will require collaboration, not only across Government and other statutory service providers, but also the business and charity sectors.
We have vast appreciation for the value and expertise that you bring to the veterans’ sector. The OVA accepts that more data is needed to fully understand the veteran community. We are committed to enhancing the collection and analysis of data that relates to the veteran community, in order to ensure the most efficient and effective provision of support. That
is why we are developing a data strategy that will help us to deliver the best outcomes for the veteran community.
Decisions regarding honours are based on a full and robust process. We have absolute faith in this process and support the decision of the board. The Advisory Military Sub-Committee, an advisory body, made recommendations based on the available evidence, including that provided by campaign groups. Its advice was provided in line with its terms of reference and acted on accordingly. The decision will only be looked at again if significant new evidence becomes available. While we wish to assure you that the board came to a fair decision based on all available evidence, should you believe your evidence to be significant and likely to make a material difference to the outcome we would implore you to reapply.”
The BNTVA feels that it is building a positive relationship with the Office of Veterans' Affairs, as well as other government departments, relevant to the British nuclear community. Whilst this process is ongoing, we understand you may want to contact your MP. We are aware of cross-party support for the British nuclear test veterans, something that is almost unheard of in these times.
If you would like to contact regarding your MP or the points raised, please phone on 0208 144 3080, or contact chairman@bntva.com.
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CAMPAIGN SPRING 2021